Cold Vengeance (Special Agent Pendergast) [Hardcover]

Douglas Preston (Author), Lincoln Child (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 2, 2011 | Series: Special Agent Pendergast

Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers-a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana-he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder.

Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined-and everything he's believed, everything he's trusted, everything he's understood . . . may be a horrific lie.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The pace of this entry in the increasingly popular Preston & Child series is more steady than usual, but the authors willingness to take their time ultimately pays dividends in terms of texture. GOOD BOOK GUIDE --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Douglas Preston, a regular contributor to The New Yorker, worked for the American Museum of Natural History. He is an expert horseman who has ridden thousands of miles across the West.
Lincoln Child is a former book editor and systems analyst who has published numerous novels and anthologies.
http://www.prestonchild.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (August 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446554987
• ISBN-13: 978-0446554985
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (329 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Preston, who worked for several years in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is the author of the acclaimed nonfiction works Dinosaurs in the Attic and Cities of Gold, and the novel, Jennie. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#70 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#74 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#79 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#90 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#70 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#74 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#79 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#90 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

213 of 225 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My on-again/off-again romance with Pendergast continues August 2, 2011

By Susan Tunis TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have been writing tales of Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast since 1995's Relic. And I have been a mostly loyal fan in the years since. But I might as well admit that Pendergast and I engaged in a trial separation these past few years. However, I just read Fever Dream and I remembered why I had stuck with him for more than a decade. You don't just toss a relationship like that away.

And I'm hooked again. Cold Vengeance is book two in the Helen Pendergast Trilogy, in which the special agent is hunting the reason for and the identity of his wife's murderers. It begins just a few weeks after the events of Fever Dream. In brief, the novel is a deliciously drawn out cat and mouse game between Pendergast and the only opponent left standing in the last novel. As this pursuit unfolds, Pendergast comes to realize, "that he truly had not known his beloved wife. Like so many other fallible human beings, he had been blinded by love. He had not even begun to crack the ultimate mystery of her identity."

But he does make progress in that ultimate mystery--with the help of more than a few characters we've met in prior novels. Who was Helen Pendergast, and what was her family connected to? At one point, Pendergast's opponent challenges, "You think your fight's just with me, but you're wrong... The fact is you have no idea, no idea, of what you're dealing with."

By the end of the book, both Pendergast and the reader will have an inkling, but there's much yet to be uncovered. Preston and Child are masterful at building suspense, and the end of this novel will be the start of a torturous wait for the final volume in the trilogy. The book ends on more than one huge cliff-hanger. Along the way, there are shocks, twists, and revelations aplenty. This is some highly entertaining storytelling, and my favorite in the series for many years.

I was a fool to leave Pendergast these last few years! I will be waiting anxiously until I can see him again in the conclusion to this most compelling story.

108 of 115 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, fast-paced . . . and INFURIATING! August 2, 2011

By kacunnin TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

These days, it seems every novel published is part of a trilogy. Preston & Child's latest novel, COLD VENGENCE, is the second installment in their latest Pendergast trilogy, focusing on the enigmatic FBI agent's attempt to get to the bottom of his wife's supposed death twelve years earlier. In many ways, COLD VENGENCE is more successful than the first book in the series, FEVER DREAM, probably because the plot is smaller and more limited in focus. Most of the novel is concentrated squarely on Pendergast's efforts to discover the truth about his wife, Helen - he follows leads in Scotland, New York City, and various Louisiana locations, while trying to keep a step ahead of Helen's shifty brother, Judson Esterhazy. The opening chapters, in which Pendergast and Esterhazy are hunting in the Scottish quagmires, are extraordinarily gripping and set the stage for the relationship to come between these two men. Pendergast wants to know the truth about Helen; Esterhazy wants desperately to keep that truth secret.

Fans of Preston & Child will find references here to D'Agosta and Hayward (although very briefly - neither play major roles in the novel), a brief mention of Smithback and Nora Kelly (through a three-year-old newspaper article), as well as the reappearance of Corrie Swanson (first seen in STILL LIFE WITH CROWS). Preston & Child often interweave characters from one book to another, creating a well fleshed-out world that is recognizable and theirs alone. It makes for very satisfying reading for those of us who know these writers well.

While I did enjoy reading COLD VENGENCE, I was also disappointed in a few things. First, the novel is pretty much all Pendergast, which can verge a bit on overkill. Pendergast works best, I think, in conjunction with other characters - here, he's in just about every scene (and the scenes he's not in seem somewhat detached from the central story). There are also quite a few ridiculous plot developments (characters doing things that don't really make sense), and I found myself scratching my head a few times trying to figure out how Nazi war criminals were going to fit into the whole thing (there are clues, of course, so you won't feel totally lost at sea). Finally, because it's the second of a planned trilogy, I knew from the start that I wasn't going to get the answers or resolution I was looking for - but it still annoyed me, as I got closer and closer to the end, to read characters saying things like, "Later I'll explain everything to you," or "Later - we'll have plenty of time to talk later." There's very little explaining going on in this novel - just a lot of set up for what might be a terrific third novel next year. And that can be downright infuriating for a reader. I'm not fond of this "trilogy phase" we're seeing these days!

Overall, if you're a Pendergast fan, you'll probably love this. I do suggest reading FEVER DREAM first, even though it's not one of Preston/Child's best books. If you're totally new to Preston/Child, I'd suggest starting with their earlier, truly brilliant novels (such as RELIC, RIPTIDE, THUNDERHEAD, CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, and STILL LIFE WITH CROWS). But COLD VENGENCE is definitely and fun and exciting novel.

77 of 91 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Rather Bland . . . August 5, 2011

By Sueall

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The deliciousness of Pendergast has always been his edgy creepiness -- you loved not quite knowing what he was up to as he took you to unexpectedly dark places and left you there. You trusted him because he never disappointed, even though he was always three steps ahead of you. He was a fascinating, bottomless well of a character who could scare and charm the heck out of you in equal measures. Until now. The Pendergast of Cold Vengence is a cut out, a single note, a boringly predictable shadow of his former character. The razor-thin plot progresses mainly because Pendergast makes mistakes -- yes, simple, ordinary mistakes! This is a diluted Pendergast I neither recognize nor enjoy.